UK Butterflies
Building a Community of Responsible Butterfly Enthusiasts in Britain & Ireland
Building a Community of Responsible Butterfly Enthusiasts in Britain & Ireland
This page provides access to all named aberrations of a given species and Goodson & Read (1969) is a key resource in this regard.
Description to be completed.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk
This section contains those aberrations that are considered new, and have yet to be formally defined.
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
Described presumably as a subspecies from Orkney but our series does not contain a specimen agreeing with the description [Goodson & Read]. The Orkney examples belong to subspecies scotica Staudinger, orcadae is therefore an aberration. The description says the upperside pale fawn with lighter margins. Underside with no band or fascia, only a small central patch remaining. There are specimens from Doncaster, which agree with this description, the aberration is therefore not confined to Orkney.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
On the underside of the forewings the white band fails completely, also the white markings of the hindwings as a rule reduced. Presumably the ocelli are present.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
On the underside of the hindwings there are no ocelli and the transverse whitish band is absent on both fore and hindwings.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
On the underside of the forewings the white transverse stripe is considerably broadened and rayed outwards along the veins towards the margin to form a series of five very large sharp wedges. The white is also extended outwards on the hindwings but in a less conspicuous manner.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
On the underside of the hindwings an uninterrupted white band from the costa to the inner margin.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
Underside of the hindwings with the white markings unusually extensive. The white median band extends inwards as streaks along both the upper and lower margins of the cell to, or near, the base (where these streaks are obscured by the longish basal hairs), and the costa is narrowly white from the base to the median band, this cutting off two islands of the dark ground colour. Any specimen in which one or both of the white cell streaks extends to or near the base is regarded as belonging to ab. cockaynei. The aberration is completely connected with the normal form by intermediates.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
The upperside of the wings without ocelli. On the underside the ocelli are greatly reduced in number, the forewings with one apical, the hindwing with only two faded spots, the usual white transverse band absent except for two half-moon shaped spots.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
On the underside of the forewing the apical spot is entirely absent and on the hindwing all the ocelli, except a small one near the anal angle. This occurs most frequently in subspecies scotica Staudinger.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
= parviocellata Lempke.Tijdschr.Ent.1957.100.p.474.pl.18.f.10.
On the underside the ocelli of all wings, except the apical eye of the forewing, are very small, sometimes almost invisible.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
The ocelli of the underside of the hindwings distinctly enlarged.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
On the underside of the forewings the apical ocellus is strikingly enlarged.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
All or most of the ocelli of the underside are without pupils.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
On the underside the yellowish rings which surround the spots of both fore and hindwings in normal specimens are absent, leaving only small rather suffused black spots, completely altering the appearance of the species. The small apical spot of the forewings has a tiny white pupil, but of the chain of six spots on the hindwings only two are faintly pupilled.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
On the underside the spots of both wings lanceolated.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
The underside of the forewings with four or more ocelli.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
On the upperside of the wings the underside pattern, i.e. the white band of the forewings and band of white spots of the hindwings, is not merely showing through but clearly visible as a sharply defined whitish-yellow band.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
The ground colour of the upperside paler; not rare in females. This no doubt applies to the pale females, which as Osthelder says are not rare, not to the much rarer creamy-grey form.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
The upperside of the hindwings uniformly silky-grey, of the tint sometimes indicated in the margins.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
The ground colour of the upperside reddish-brown.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
Female. The ground colour of the upperside of the wings of nearly the same dark tint as that of the male.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
The distal part of the upperside of the wings is darkened by a broad blackish band.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
Ground colour of the wings normal but on the underside of the forewings strongly dark dusted. In his English translation Lempke says, "strongly suffused with a blackish tint".
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
The underside of the hindwings uniform brown with the usual white markings and ocelli.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
On the upperside of all wings the ocelli are absent. This character is present in ab. laidion Borkhausen but laidion, on the underside, has the normal white transverse fascia almost absent.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
The typical cinnamon ground colour of both upper and underside in both sexes replaced by shades of grey, appearing almost monochromatic; very occasionally with a yellowish-green tint. Wing markings typical.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
Best described as having typical markings but with a reduction in melanin pigments in both sexes. The result is an orange butterfly with paler markings replacing the normal deep black rings around the eyespots.
Natural History Museum
britishbutterflyaberrations.co.uk (all aberrations)
